Sirsa district
Sirsa district ( ) is one of the districts of Haryana state, India. Sirsa is the district headquarters, and is located on National Highway 10 and 250 km away from Delhi. Origin of name The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is derived from its ancient Sanskrit name Sairishaka, which is mentioned in the Mahabharata, the Ashtadhyayi and the Divyavadana. In Mahabharata, Sairishaka is described as being taken by Nakula in his conquest of the western quarter. It must have been a flourishing city in the 5th century B.C. as it has been mentioned by Panini. There are a number of legends about the origin of the name of the town. Its ancient name was Sairishaka and from that it seems to have been corrupted to Sirsa. According to local tradition, an unknown king named Saras founded the town in 7th century A.D. and built a fort. The material remains of an ancient fort can still be seen in the south-east of the present town. It is about 5 km in circumference. According to another tradition, the name has its origin from the sacred river Sarasvati which one flowed near it. During the medieval period, the town was known as Sarsuti. It has been mentioned as Sarsuti by a number of medieval historians. The derivation of name Sirsa, is also attributed to the abundance of siris trees (Albizia lebbeck (Benth)) in the neighborhood of Sirsa which seems quite plausible for it finds some corroboration also in Panini and his commentator. In the ancient period, Sirsa was also known as Sirsapattan. History In 1819, the territory occupied by the present district was taken over by the British and it became part of the North Western district of the Delhi territory. In 1820, the North Western district was bifurcated into Northern and Western districts and this territory became part of Western district, which was later renamed Haryana district. In 1837, it was separated from Haryana district and merged with newly formed Bhattiana district. In 1858, Bhattiana district was transferred to Punjab Province and renamed Sirsa district. In 1884, Sirsa district was abolished, its two tehsils, Sirsa and Dabwali were merged to form Sirsa tehsil, which became part of Hissar district of Punjab Province. On 1 November 1966, it became part of newly formed state of Haryana. In 1968, Sirsa tehsil was again bifurcated to Sirsa and Dabwali tehsils. The present district was carved out on September 1, 1975 by amalgamating Sirsa and Dabwali tehsils of erstwhile Hissar district. Economy In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sirsa one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the two districts in Haryana currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Divisions The district comprises four tehsils: Sirsa, Dabwali, Rania and Ellenabad. These tehsils are further sub-divided in to 7 blocks: Baragudha, Dabwali, Ellenabad, Nathusary Chopta, Odhan, Rania and Sirsa. There are 5 Vidhan Sabha constituencies in this district: Kalanwali, Dabwali, Rania, Sirsa and Ellenabad. All of these are part of Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency. Demographics According to the 2011 census Sirsa district has a population of 1,295,114, roughly equal to the nation of Mauritius or the US state of New Hampshire. This gives it a ranking of 378th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.98 %. Sirsa has a sex ratio of 896 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 70.4 %. Languages Vernaculars include Bagri, a tonal language in the Rajasthani cluster spoken by an estimated 2 100 000. Gusaian, Lakhan (2000). Punjabi & Bagri. Munich: Lincom Europa (Languages of the World/Materials), p.384 Besides, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu are also in use in this district. Notes External links *District- Sirsa district official website Category:Districts of Haryana Category:Sirsa district Category:Minority Concentrated Districts in India